Week 2 Prizes!

As of right now, we have hit 319 pre-orders. Thanks to all those who’ve pre-ordered books. If you haven’t hit the max of 10 pre-orders, please consider popping one or two or three more eBooks. Entries roll over for prizes week to week until we hit 750 pre-ordered books.

To help the team, a lot of people have been ordering 1 paperback, and 4 e-books, for a total of $60. It’s pretty easy to order from your phone.

Please tell your baseball friends about GOING, GOING, GONE! Thanks!

There are 10 prizes this week. Each copy of GOING, GOING, GONE! pre-ordered counts as an entry. So, if you pre-ordered 10, you’ve got 10 entries.

Pre-orders will be entered in the drawing right up until the random drawing Wednesday night, winners announced by noon, Thursday, Pacific Time. 

First place gets first choice.
Second place gets second choice.
Third place gets third choice.

After I hear from the gold, silver, and bronze winners, I’ll try to quickly reach out to winners 4 - 10, but you might not get a choice, just some cool cards in the mail (make sure to email me your street address if you’re a winner!) 

All of Week 2’s prizes in one photo



Prize 1: Autographed and framed Perez-Steele card of Jim Catfish Hunter, autographed by the great A’s and Yankees pitcher. What a dominant pitcher in the 1970s! A winner! Click on the image and it’ll take you to Youtube and the lite beer commercial in which a comedian calls him "Catfood."



 Prize 2: Seven 1955 Topps cards. Fair-Good condition. Probably worth $1-$2 dollars per card because of their condition. 64 years old!



 Prize 3: Now we move along to a few cards from the HELMAR BASEBALL ART CARD COMPANY. Many of you know that I’ve been writing the backs of some of the Helmar cards for a few years. I love what Charles Mandel, the greatest baseball artist alive today, does with Helmar. The artwork for the cover of Going, Going, Gone! is made up of Helmar cards. All of the cards on the cover of the book are transformed into characters in Going, Going, Gone! 

This is a Helmar Oasis card. Oasis has SEVEN LAYERS of paper. They are inspired by 1870s and 80s advertising signs in the era of gaslights. Charles Mandel’s genius shines through in every card he makes!



Back of the card.



Here’s a link to the current Helmar auction on eBay.

Time out to consider pre-ordering more of GOING, GOING, GONE for every one of your baseball-loving friends! Each pre-order is another entry for prizes. Click on the book to pre-order. Pick up a few more eBooks and help the team! Thanks!



Prize 4: Another amazing Helmar card. A framed Helmar-T206. Yes, that’s right, FRAMED. With a cork matting and Japanese paper border and thin plexi cover and back and a wax seal on the back. Hello Joseph Cornell!!!! These sell for $20 - $40, depending on the player. But they should sell for hundreds! One day!



The thickness of the framed card from last week’s card. The detail on the edge!



The back of the card, with a gummed tag inspired by antique baggage tags, initialed by the person who constructed the card. And that wax stamp!



Prize 5: Another Helmar art card. The series is Polar Night. John Cahill, from Indianapolis, who played in the 1880s. Baseball players were sometimes photographed in a studio, posing with a baseball suspended from a string. Such is the inspiration for this pose.



Prize 6: About 75 high-quality, contemporary football cards, including Troy Aikman.



Prize 7: Stack of over 100 cool baseball cards spanning the past 30 years.



Prize 8: Auction catalogue from the most recent REA auction, the premiere auctioneer of a breadth of quality baseball memorabilia, from Babe Ruth’s bat, to rare cards, photos, and on the front, sheet music with a very early lithograph of a baseball game. This would be a great way to see what the baseball-collecting world is up to.



Prize 9: Late 1970s Topps card, including the 1988 Orel Hersheiser. This one is worthy of sending to get graded. It’s from his MVP season and the last time the Dodgers won the World Series. We were all so much younger.



Prize 10: High-quality reprints of T206 cards. I enjoyed poring over the players in these cards who appear in GOING, GOING, GONE. I’d stare for a long time at the images. I spent two wonderful days in the library at the Baseball Hall of Fame looking at photos of players from 1906. These aren’t worth much money, but are very cool. Make great bookmarks.

Deep thanks to GOING, GOING, GONE SUPER STAR SLUGGERS (purchasers of 5 or more)!